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Punjab reports 1,068 farm fires, highest in single day this season
Bathinda’s air quality deteriorates to ‘very poor’ category; Sangrur tops chart with 181 active stubble burning cases
Jalandhar : Punjab on Sunday recorded 1,068 farm fires, the highest in a single day this season, taking the total incidents of stubble burning to 5,254.
According to the Ludhiana-based Punjab Remote Sensing Centre (PRSC), Sangrur topped the chart with 181 active stubble burning cases followed by 155 in Ferozepur, 133 in Tarn Taran, 83 in Patiala, 66 in Mansa, 62 in Fatehgarh Sahib and 57 each in Ludhiana and Amritsar.
With the sudden spike in farm fires, the air quality has also deteriorated in the state. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data, Bathinda recorded the worst air quality index (AQI) at 329, which falls in the very poor bracket, followed by 224 (poor) in Ludhiana, 202 in Rupnagar and Patiala 201. Amritsar recorded AQI level of 137, Khanna 130, Jalandhar 129 and Mandi Gobindgarh 102, all in the moderate category.
Paddy straw burning in Punjab and Haryana is one of the reasons behind alarming spike in air pollution in the national capital in October and November. As the window for rabi crop wheat is very short after paddy harvest, farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear off the crop residue for sowing of the next crop.
Punjab Pollution control board chairman Adarshpal Vig said though the day-to-day cases of stubble burning are still less as compared to 2022 and 2021, but the paddy harvesting is still on in the state.
“It is a critical time. We are closely monitoring the situation on the ground,” said Vig, adding that the stubble burning cases are not the only reason for deteriorating air quality.
The stubble burning cases in Punjab are comparatively less than the last two seasons. The state reported 1,353 and 1,898 farm fires on October 29 in 2021 and 2022.
3,460 cases in seven days
After reporting a lesser number of farm fires after the paddy harvesting season started in September, Punjab has recorded a surge in stubble burning cases. The state recorded 3,460 cases in the past seven days.
“The increase in stubble burning cases was expected as the paddy harvesting is at its peak in south Punjab. This is the reason that most of the cases have been reported from Ferozepur, Bathinda, Mansa and Sangrur districts,” said an agriculture official, seeking anonymity.
Out of the total 5,254 farm fires reported so far, Amritsar constituted the bulk of crop residue burning cases at 1,060, followed by 646 in Tarn Taran, 590 in Patiala, 540 in Sangrur and 505 in Ferozepur, as per the data.
With about 31 lakh hectares of paddy area, Punjab produces around 180-200 lakh tonne of paddy straw every year and of which 120 lakh tonne was being managed through in-situ (mixing crop residue in fields) and around 30 lakh tonne ex-situ (using stubble as fuel) management methods.
